


and I'll come home to you

by thewayofthetrashcompactor (BriarLily)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Does Not Die, Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rurouni Kenshin Inspired, Soft Ben Solo, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Teacher Rey (Star Wars), jedi academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22646524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor
Summary: Ben and Rey both escape Exegol, and the past follows them. To protect the strange child they've found, they set up a school for Force-sensitives, but Ben can't shake the weight of his guilt.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51
Collections: For one is both and both are one in love: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	and I'll come home to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kuresoto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuresoto/gifts).



> kuresoto: you're wonderful and your prompts are wonderful, thank you <3

“Now do this one!” Bowi squeals with delight as he places another carved block in front of the small green child. The child adds it to the collection of small items hovering in the room at random, much to the younger children’s amusement.

“Rey, Rey, look!” Abeko insists, his lekku bobbing as he calls over to her. 

“I’m looking!” Rey assures him. 

She is, even as she buries her hands in the dough she’s kneading into the counter. Opening the kitchen to the room beyond had been one of the early changes she’d made to the building that now houses her school for young Force-sensitives, once she realized how much trouble a group of kids with access to the Force could get into, even in the few seconds it took to grab a few nutrition bars from the cupboards. Ben had helped her, and he’s usually the one of the pair of them who spends more time here. Her idea of quality food for their students is buying the more expensive ration packs at the market, but Ben knows how to actually cook. The last time he’d made five blossom bread, it hadn’t lasted the day.

Ben had promised to make it for her again when he came back, but she’s trying to make her own for the school in the meantime. Nothing as fancy as his, just some simple loaves, but that’s enough of a challenge for her right now. She squints at the lumpy mass in front of her and wonders if it needs more flour. She added as much as the recipe she found on the holonet said, but she doesn’t remember Ben’s dough sticking to his hands quite so much. She looks down at herself and the kitchen around her and figures that more of the flour probably ended up there than in the bread. She grabs another handful of flour and starts to work it in. She finds this part relaxing, even if she’s not sure she’s doing it exactly right, and she understands why Ben likes it so much. 

She watches the kids as she kneads. Abeko and Bowi are still giggling with the smallest child as he lifts the things they give him. She and Ben aren’t sure how old the green child is, let alone what species he might be. He’s only just begun to talk, in a language neither of them recognize. Ben has found pieces of records from the old Jedi temple where a being like the child, but no information on what he was. Ben calls him various nicknames, and Bean has mostly stuck. Rey figures they’ll have to find him a real name one of these days, but he doesn’t seem to mind the nicknames for now. 

The trio of older children gathers at a table, passing around a holopad. Rey isn’t sure what they’re doing or if she really wants to know. They seem to be having fun, and the temple is still standing, which is good enough for her. Not many people in the galaxy trust a school run by a supposed Jedi and the former ruler of the First Order, but Vess, Netisa, and Qui’lian all made their way to them for their own reasons. Rey knows some of their stories, and she’s content not to pry for the rest. She’s just happy to have built a place where they can be kids and learn about the Force before it messes with their lives any further. 

The thought reminds her of Ben, and she glances over at her holocomm. Still nothing. Not that she expected anything. Ben messages sometimes while he’s gone, but not often. He should be back soon, she thinks. The mission he’d taken this time wasn’t anything too difficult, rumors of a holdout of First Order fanatics raiding nearby. It probably wasn’t anything the locals couldn’t handle on their own, but she knows how he is. He still thinks he owes the galaxy for everything he did as Kylo Ren.

Her hand automatically twitches towards that familiar spot on her ribs, and she has to stop herself from getting dough on her robes. Rubbing over the mark has become a bad habit ever since it appeared, one she’s trying to break. Especially since she hasn’t told Ben about it yet. She never meant to keep it a secret, but -- there never seemed to be a good time. Ben’s name appeared on her ribs in his graceful calligraphy almost a year ago, a few months after they’d escaped from Exegol and he was slowly relearning his place in the galaxy. She’s heard the stories and knows what it means: she’s found her soulmate and fallen in love with the person meant for her in the whole of the galaxy. 

She’d known she’d found her soulmate in Ben before the mark showed up, but it’s nice to have that confirmation undeniably inked into her. It comforts her, though it makes her wonder if Ben will ever receive her mark the same way. She tells herself she’s satisfied with what they have. She doesn’t want to pressure Ben, not when she can see how he’s still pulled apart by the man he was and the one he wants to be. It’s a nice dream though, their names marked on each other.

She looks down at her dough and realizes she’s probably been too hard on it. She has a lot of things on her mind for one batch of bread to deal with. Not much to do about that now. She scrapes it all off the counter and deposits it in the large bowl Ben uses, then sets it off to the side. No telling if it’ll actually rise, but it should be some kind of edible. She’ll eat it even if no one else will. 

She starts to clean off the counters, mostly getting more flour down her robes. The sound of a ship comes from overhead, flying low, and she drops her towel. She barely needs to reach out in the Force to know who it is. 

“Ben,” she breathes, a smile spreading across her face. 

The students realize what’s happening too and rush out the door after her, Bean cradled in Vess’s arms. Ben lands the old x-wing easily in the field next to the school, and Rey is waiting for him by the time her pops open the cockpit and slides down. 

“Welcome home,” she says.

He smiles in that gentle way she loves, then wraps his arms around her and bends over her in a deep kiss. She breathes in his familiar scent, slightly sweaty from whatever he’s been doing before he flew back, and darts her tongue out to taste his lips. They part for her, welcoming as always, and she threads her hand through the soft waves of his hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss. 

Through her the haze of pleasure of having Ben back again, Rey hears a child’s exaggerated sigh from below them. “They always do this,” Bowi complains. “How long do we gotta wait?”

“Shush,” Netisa says. 

Rey grins and pulls back from Ben, whose smile looks sheepish. The tips of his ears turn pink where they peek from under his hair. He grabs her hand and looks down at their students. “So what have you all been up to?” he asks, and off they go.

They all walk back to the school, Ben and Rey practically tripping over the students as they gather around Ben, talking over each other to tell him what they’ve learned the past couple days. He listens and nods, making sounds of approval at the right moments. 

The chatter continues as they enter the main room of the school. Ben sits on the floor and lets himself be shown Abeko’s new trick with lifting small rocks, which hasn’t changed much from before he left, but he still reacts as if it’s brand new. Rey watches, smiling. She knows most of the galaxy would never believe the sight before her. To most people, he’s still Kylo Ren, the terrifying face of the First Order, even though the Order is slowly being pushed from the galaxy. To those that know of him on the Outer Rim, Ben Solo is known for taking care of problems with ruthless efficiency. The Outer Rim ports have never been so free of pirates since he followed her out here. 

Bowi climbs up the terrifying Jedi killer’s back, pulling himself up on Ben’s hair. The small green Bean has ended up on Ben’s lap, watching as intently as Ben as Qui’lian demonstrates his stances with a broom in place of a practice staff. Ben winces and moves Bowi’s hands to his neck, and the boy giggles as he clings to the former master of the Knights of Ren. Not wanting to be left out, Abeko sits on Ben’s other knee. Rey grins as Ben tries to balance the children and keep them from falling off of him. She could help, but she knows he doesn’t mind being greeted like this. 

Eventually the stories start to run out, and the youngest children’s yawns become hard for them to ignore. Ben stands, careful not to disturb the Bean who’s already napping in his arms. “I think it’s time for some of us to get ready for bed,” he says. 

The youngest complain with overlapping protests that they’re not tired. Ben listens, then reminds them that they have to be up early if they don’t want to miss training. They still grumble, but wander off to their room. Ben walks over to Rey and kisses her cheek. 

“I missed you,” he tells her. 

She leans into him. “It was only a couple days,” she teases, but she tilts her head up to reach his lips. “I missed you too. How was it?”

He shrugs. “Simple. They were a couple of fanatics that barely knew how to take care of themselves. They wouldn’t have been worth fighting if they hadn’t started stealing and threatening their neighbors.”

She nods. “I’m glad you’re back,” she says, squeezing his hand. _‘I worry about you,’_ she doesn’t say, but the way he looks at her tells her that he hears it. 

“I am too,” he answers.

She doesn’t ask when he’ll be leaving again, not wanting to think about that yet. She knows he’s helping people, but she worries his guilt will keep pushing him too far. This time it was easy, but other times haven’t gone so smoothly. She leans her head against his shoulder and nuzzles into his neck. His arm wraps around her waist, pulling her closer. He’s here now, and that’s what matters. 

**Author's Note:**

> Kuresto: I didn't have time to get through all of the source material, but I read some things, watched some, so I hope this has the feel you were looking for! You had such great prompts, and I really enjoyed playing with them. 
> 
> (hoping to get another chapter to follow up this week!)
> 
> Make sure to check out the rest of the exchange! Over 150 amazing works by some incredible writers!


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